TRISKELIS is solo bass-guitar project from Italian Sergio Vinci. I reluctantly call him a multi-instrumentalist despite only seemingly playing bass, some synth and programs the rest of the track instruments. He is known from the now defunct band LILYUM under the moniker Kosmos Reversum. They released several albums and Eps throughout the 2000s, beginning as groove metal but exploring black and thrash metal as they evolved over time but never played any live shows. He has also released a solo album "Psycho" under the name OIGRES in May of 2019 that was labeled as alternative stoner metal and sought to explore trash, post-metal and stoner metal varieties. Researching all of this, it certainly seemed like the artist was quite prolific and dabbled in many different genres of metal that I enjoyed so I eagerly awaited a listening session of his new work.

However, none of the above genres are what is displayed on this record. Devoid of nearly anything resembling metal - barely anything that could be consider rock 'n' roll for that matter - the project is described as a space dedicated to the bass and its unique expressiveness. I could get on board with that, I enjoy the avante-garde, experimental music as well as my rock and metal. The artists also confesses that the project is devoid of virtuosity and meant to exude fantasy instead. It's true, there are no flashy lead lines, instead replaced by repetitive bass riffs, painfully programmed drums and the lightest sprinkling of other instruments that could barely pass for ambiance let alone melody lines. There is no dynamic between tracks, this could just have easily been one giant 30 minute borefest of a song if the artist could even be bothered to create transitions between tracks. Vinci couldn't even be bothered to even give each track a proper name, instead using roman numerals starting with 100, then arbitrarily jumping down to 13 and ascending from there for every track. None of the tracks stand out and I doubt anyone outside of Vinci could tell which track was playing if blindfolded.

The production does nothing to help the tedious plodding. The whole recording sounds like something am amateur pasted together on an old Casio keyboard in their bedroom, the only live instrument being the distorted bass. The tone of which is a muddy, jangling down-tuned mess. The drums sound so painful, especially the harsh, relentless attack of the snare. Considering the musical history of Vinci I expected a lot and got very little. Halfway through the album I begged for it to finish its mercifully svelte runtime of 32 minutes swiftly and that I would not have to assail my ears any longer. In the 90s, this record that would have been passed around on tape by local stoner friends of the artist to listen to while they tripped on acid. It's great for that considering there are no lyrics to get hung up and you can let your imagination run wild as to whatever imagery Vinci was trying to conjure. I wouldn't even recommend this for background music for a Youtube video.